Carly Vair: Unmasked
WARNING - This article contains spoilers about some of Lethbridge’s most icon sports mascots
When we talk about individuals that work behind the scenes of sporting events, we usually refer to the back office staff, production technicians, and other workers who go unseen and unheard for their efforts. There’s one person however, who is a familiar face at both Bulls and Hurricanes games who is hidden in plain sight - and that’s Carly Vair, the woman (yes, woman) inside the mascot suit of both T-Bone and Cane.
Lethbridge Sports managed to catch Carly between her busy schedule of mascotting and momming, and she opened up to us about her journey to become two of the most famous icons of Lethbridge sports. “Going into the 2019 hockey season I saw an ad that the Lethbridge Hurricanes were looking for a mascot,” Carly tells us. “I applied and got the job. It sounded super cool. I went into the interview expecting nothing. I figured, I’m an old lady, they’re not going to hire me. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the job.” The self-described old lady is a mom of 3, with ages between 9 and 14. Although we didn’t ask, she offered us insight that she started down this new career path of costumed public entertainment as she got close to 40 hereslf.
Carly’s first season with the Hurricanes was as their mascot Cane during 2019-2020. “It was so good!” She says. “Being a mascot is the best job I’ve ever done.” And that’s saying something coming from a woman who previously worked at a toy store AND video game store. “Mascotung is hands down my favorite. It’s like nothin’ else.” Carly says the best part is that everyone is so happy to see her when she’s on shift at work, even though she acknowledges they are excited to see the character and not her personally.
Carly admits to there being a few struggles to her favorite job. “Doing the baseball games and being outside is hot. Definitely that’s a challenge.” She tells us. There have been several Bulls games this season with temperatures over 30 degress Celcius, so we can only imagine! Carly also identifies that she’s had some Issues with the costumes, “Cane takes getting used to",” she explains, “the head is front heavy so you have to adjust your body to work with that. They both [Cane and T-Bone] have big feet and big shoes, so adjusting the way you walk is a challenge.” She also has had to deal with the occasional bully,which come as both kids and adults. “They’ll try and smack you in the head and stuff like it.” She says.
Recently, T-Bone has been escorted around Bulls games by some extra muscle, and we asked Carly what the story was about that. Sadly, our theory that T-Bone had been threatened by a local rib joint turned out to be incorrect. “It’s because I can’t always see!” Carly laughs. “With the Bulls, my husbands’ been walking around with me. For the first time I had a volunteer helping get me around, but then I was on my own. It’s been good to have someone with me because on my own there’s limited vision. Sometimes a kid can walk in front of me and I can’t see them, so they [her husband] help point things out.”
Carly grew up in Calgary, went to High School in Cranbrook, but has spent over 20 years in Lethbridge since then. Aside from mascotting, she tells us she isn’t very involved in other sports. She is a slo-pitch player and likes going to Canes games when she isn’t “on duty”, but her secret identity is really her only involvement in the sports community.
Wrapping up, Carly tells us that “If I could do it fulltime it’d be super awesome.” Her kids also think her job is pretty great. “My kids think it’s pretty cool and they brag it up to their friends.” One thing Carly encounters is a lot of surprise, and even some disbelief when she admits to people who she is with her costumes on. Both mascots are identified by their clubs as male, as most mascots are, and so when people find out it’s a woman inside they’re surprised. Carly is one of a strong cohort of women in the Lethbridge sports community who are breaking down barriers and challenging perceptions of typical male roles in sports organizations.
Carly wraps up our interview by expressing her gratitude for the opportunity to be Cane and T-Bone. “I’d thank the Lethbridge Hurricanes for taking a chance on an old lady. You get some confidence once put in that position. Kathy and Terry took a chance and let me meet Charlee for the Bulls as well.”
We look forward to seeing Carly in her element this upcoming week during the Bull’s playoff games, and then again this fall when the Hurricanes hit the ice for their 2021-22 season. Until then, keep on dancing Carly!